Pirates: Martial Arts Masters on the Straw Hat Ship

"Bang--!!"

A piercing gunshot ruthlessly shattered the last vestige of order within the restaurant.

The naval soldier who was giving the report screamed, a burst of blood erupted from his back, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

The smell of gunpowder instantly mingled with the aroma of food, stimulating everyone's senses.

All eyes turned to the doorway in terror.

There stood a man who looked like a walking corpse.

He wore a tattered gray jacket, and beneath his headscarf were deep-set eyes with heavy dark circles around them.

His lips were chapped and peeling, his cheeks were sunken, and he was so thin that he looked like he could be blown away by a gust of wind.

But the still-smoking pistol in his hand, and the eyes that still radiated a ferocious, beast-like light even in his extreme weakness, made it impossible to look directly at him.

Ghost man, Ajin.

He dragged his heavy steps, slowly making his way into the restaurant.

Every step felt like it was treading on the heartstrings of everyone.

"Thump."

He walked to the dining table closest to the door, slumped into the chair, as if he had used up all his strength.

He slammed the gun barrel heavily onto the pristine white tablecloth, the sound as hoarse as sandpaper.

"Anything is fine... hurry up... serve the food..."

"Welcome, sir!"

A loud, almost exaggerated voice rang out.

A chef with a burly build, resembling a gorilla, walked out from the direction of the kitchen.

He sported a comical mustache, stood with his hands on his hips, and wore a highly professional yet roguishly fawning smile.

That's Paddy, the violent chef from Barratier, known for his "terrible service".

"I'll say it one more time..." Ah Jin's finger rested limply on the trigger, his eyes unfocused yet fierce. "Hurry up... serve the food..."

Paddy's smile widened, and he leaned closer to Akin, rubbing his hands together as he asked:

"Sir, you seem to be in a hurry. However, we have a rule—we do not offer credit. May I ask if you have the money?"

"money……"

Akin trembled as he raised his pistol, the dark muzzle pointing at Paddy's massive head, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Do you want to eat... a bullet?"

At that moment, Ronan keenly sensed that Patty's aura had changed.

The original facade of sycophancy and flattery was instantly torn away, replaced by a brutal ferocity born of years of battlefield experience.

"Oh? You don't have any money, huh?"

Paddy's voice suddenly turned cold, and the smile on his face vanished without a trace.

"Then they're not guests!!!"

"boom--!"

Paddy didn't waste any words, and didn't even give Akin a chance to fire.

His fist, as big as a clay pot, slammed down on Ah Jin's head with a whooshing sound!

This punch had no technique whatsoever; it was pure, monstrous strength belonging only to a chef!

"Pfft!"

Already exhausted from hunger, Ah Jin could not withstand this attack.

Before he could even scream, he and the chair beneath him were blasted away, crashing heavily onto the floor, instantly staining the carpet red with blood.

"Wow...that's amazing!" Usopp exclaimed, shrinking under the table in fright. "Is this really a chef?"

Zoro watched this scene with great interest: "It seems the chef at this restaurant wasn't exactly a saint before."

Ronan nodded, thinking to himself, "The chefs of Baratie were originally a gathering place for combat chefs who couldn't make it on the high seas."

"Under Zeff's leadership, they not only became excellent cooks, but fighting was also a regular occurrence for them."

"If they can't afford the food, they're trash!"

Paddy stepped forward, grabbed the barely alive Akin by the collar, and dragged him toward the door like a dead dog.

"Don't dirty our floor! Get out!"

"Bang!"

Akin was ruthlessly thrown out the door and landed on the cold deck.

The patrons in the restaurant clapped and cheered, believing that driving away the vicious pirate was the only right thing to do.

However, behind the noisy crowd, Ronan noticed a detail.

The blond chef, Sanji, who had just been showing off, glanced silently at the doorway, then turned around without a word and walked into the depths of the kitchen.

His silhouette looked somewhat desolate, yet it carried a resolute determination.

"That is..."

Luffy obviously noticed it too. His eyes lit up, and he immediately jumped up from his chair and quietly followed.

"Hey, Luffy! Where are you going?" Usopp asked in a low voice.

Without turning his head, Luffy whispered, unable to hide his excitement, "I'll go find us a chef!"

As Ronan watched Luffy's figure disappear around the corner of the kitchen, he understood.

He knew what was going to happen next.

That was one of the most touching scenes in the early stages of One Piece—the absolute justice of "giving food to the hungry."

"Looks like Sanji went to cook for that demon Gin," Ronan thought to himself.

In this dog-eat-dog world of the seas, Sanji's gentleness seems so out of place, yet so dazzling.

Ronan picked up his fork, speared a relatively intact piece of meat, and said to Zoro and Nami, who were somewhat worried:

"Let's keep eating. Don't worry, Luffy may seem unreliable most of the time, but he's incredibly accurate when it comes to judging people."

"Let's wait and see if he can handle that chef."

……

Twenty minutes later.

Luffy returned to the dining table, fuming.

He immediately noticed that the plates on the table were mostly empty, and he panicked, lunging forward like a monkey guarding its food.

"Aaaaah! You guys are so cunning! Leave me some! That piece of meat with the bone is mine!"

Ronan smiled and pushed a plate of fried rice that he had specially saved for him towards Luffy: "Luffy, how's it going? Did you finish?"

Luffy, stuffing food into his mouth frantically, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's, mumbled indistinctly:

"Hmm...he hasn't agreed yet...glug...but that guy with the curly eyebrows is a good person!"

"He cooked for that hungry pirate! I like him even more now! I'll definitely convince him!"

"Cooking for pirates?" Nami was somewhat surprised. "That pirate was clearly broke, yet he was pointing a gun at people?"

"That's the chef's creed, isn't it?" Zoro took a sip of his drink, his gaze deep. "For a chef, feeding the hungry is more important than anything else."

Just then, another commotion broke out in the restaurant's lobby.

Ronan looked up.

Sanji was seen carrying a bottle of red wine, moving gracefully between the tables.

He approached a stylishly dressed young woman at her table, poured her a drink with practiced ease, a gentlemanly smile on his face, and uttered words of praise that made the woman blush and her heart race, causing her to cover her mouth and giggle.

"Tch, so he's a lecherous bastard." Zoro scoffed.